The appearance and function of the conventional radio has developed in response to the environment of its use. For example, Bose developed a small, low profile Wave® radio to produce the sort of room-filling sound you would expect from a much larger audio system. On the other hand, JVC developed the HX-Z1 Tower of Power mini system that expands the radio into a small home audio system. These radios are suitable for mild climate, indoor uses where the radio remains substantially in the same geographic location.
People who work outdoors, for example general contractors, do not have the luxury of working in a mild climate and fixed geographic location. General contractors work in varied environments (e.g., the cold of winter, or the direct heat of the sun in the summer) and different geographic locations (e.g., they move from job site location to job site location). A general contractor's radio must therefore be able to withstand environmental contamination such as wind, snow, dirt, dust, and rain; must be able to withstand the hazards of the jobsite such as being knocked over, dropped, and subjected to vibrations; and must also have the electronic components to receive, transform and amplify the radio signal into an audio signal.
The first problem that a general contractor may have with a conventional radio is the radio reception may be poor in certain geographical locations. In addition, the contractor's favorite radio station may not be the same or may not be offered at all depending on the geographic location. This is because a conventional (AM/FM) transmitter sends radio waves into the air in a way that mimics the original sounds sent by the radio studio, the receiver then pick these waves up and they are converted back into an audio signal, which is converted back into sound waves by the loud speakers. This method of transmission is prone to signal distortion and interference.
AM reception, which travels both on the ground and through the air, is prone to interference by a variety of sources: other radio stations, lightning storms, and nightfall. An outlying AM station's signal can even reflect off the ionosphere and skip over areas that receive that signal during the day.
FM broadcasts deliver greater audio fidelity and are less susceptible to static, but also have reception-related challenges. Because all radio waves travel in straight lines, the best FM reception is received the radio is in an unobstructed, line-of-sight path from the transmitting antenna. Also, a radio frequency wave signal emitted from the transmitting tower weakens over lengthy distances. Moreover, FM signals bounce-off hard objects such as tall buildings or mountains creating disturbances known as “multi-path” ripples. These multiplied waves can cancel out the original broadcast signal at select points.
Satellite radio improves the conventional AM/FM radio potential by offering a better audio quality, greater coverage, and fewer commercials. Satellite radio includes transmission of substantially the same program content from two or more geosynchronous or geostationary satellites to both mobile and fixed receivers on the ground. In urban canyons and other high population density areas with limited line-of-sight (LOS) satellite coverage (a drawback of FM radio), terrestrial repeaters will broadcast the same program content in order to improve coverage reliability. To improve reception, signals are received from two satellites and one terrestrial repeater for combined spatial, frequency and time diversity, which provides significant mitigation of multi-path interference and addresses reception issues associated with blockage of the satellite signals.
One problem with a satellite radio is that the receiver contains sensitive electronic components which are needed to receive satellite radio signals. Known satellite radios such as those sold by XM Radio, also called satellite receivers, have been used in automobiles, “boom boxes”, and in home stereo systems.
Thus, there is a need for a device that receives and plays back satellite signals that can also withstand outdoor harsh environmental conditions, such as those conditions at a construction job site.